Child had surgery after Spencer playground incident; Dept. of Children and Families involved in probe

Wednesday

Oct 30, 2013 at 9:06 PM

By Kim Ring, TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

SPENCER — Police removed a man from the Spencer-East Brookfield Regional School Committee meeting Monday night after he angrily questioned the superintendent about an incident at Wire Village School in which a child was injured.

The man, from East Brookfield, was asking whether children in the school are safe after a 7-year-old was seriously hurt during an incident on the playground on Oct. 4 involving another 7-year-old.

In a heated exchange, interim Superintendent Edward Malvey told the man the incident was none of his business, and school committee Chairman John Howard asked that police remove the man.

After the meeting, Mr. Malvey said he could not discuss specifics about the incident and said police and school officials are looking into the matter.

The child was injured on Oct. 4, but police were not told until several days later because, Mr. Malvey said, employees from the school department could not speak to the injured child, who they later learned was hospitalized.

Spencer police said the state Department of Children and Families is involved in the investigation and the Worcester district attorney's office was notified.